Do you have a Blizzcon ticket and decided not to go to the Laguna Art Museum VIP Benefit Dinner? They now have a new discount offer for those who already have a BlizzCon ticket. Not only can you talk to developers during this dinner, you get an exclusive signed Blizzard Art to take home. If you do want a Blizzcon ticket visit the previous offer here.

Blizzard Quote:

Already have your BlizzCon 2009 ticket?
Now you can join us the eve of BlizzCon for the Blizzard/Laguna Art Museum VIP Benefit Dinner and have the chance to meet and mingle with Blizzard executives!

Hi, I am Medievaldragon. I had the opportunity to visit the Blizzard Entertainment Headquarters to play the Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty single player campaign. I barely played through six missions, but I can tell you it was an AWESOME experience from a lore nerd point of view.

After hours playing the game, I asked Chris Metzen, Blizzard’s senior vice-president of Creative Design many questions about the single player and its relevance with the printed media such as the novels, manga and comic book. Here is our interview coverage with Chris Metzen.

TRANSCRIPThttp://www.blizzplanet.com/blog/comments/

Blizzard Quote:

I was playing the single player, and I saw something very interesting. The mission is titled Tooth and Nail. It is set in the protoss shrine-world Monlyth. I noticed these protoss are the Tal’drim tribe, which is interesting because this is the name of the tribe in Starcraft: The Dark Templar trilogy by Christie Golden—shown in book two: Shadow Hunters.

The Tal’drim in this book are however known as The Forged. They were among the protoss who were abandoned and left behind during the Invasion of Aiur. Most of the protoss evacuated through the warpgate to reach Shakuras, and to avoid zerg from reaching Shakuras, they sealed the gateway leaving behind many protoss to their own fate.

Jim Raynor and Fenix stayed behind to make sure the Zerg wouldn’t reach the gateway. These protoss survivors were deeply affected emotionally reliving their abandonment by the Xel’Naga, left behind to despair. Their faith in the Khala was affected, and they eventually rejected the sanctity of the Khala.

The Tal’drim survived thanks to a mysterious patron who protected them from the Zerg, deep in the forbidden caverns of Aiur. This patron granted the Tal’drim known as The Forged a special drug named Sundrop which inhibits chemically the Khala without cutting off their head appendages. In short, the Tal’drim are effectively blocked from their psychic commonality with the other protoss survivors in Aiur known as Those who endure, and are unable to read their thoughts. It’s as if the Tal’drim had devolved to be like those protoss from before the Aeon of Strife, before the Khala was taught by Khas.

My question to you is, Are these other Tal’drim protoss in Monlyth also under the influence of Dark Archon Ulrezaj?

Metzen: How do I answer that. Are the Tal’darim influenced by Ulrezaj?. That’s still playing out. To some degree it’s the same group, but the group might be larger than what you saw in SHADOW HUNTERS specifically.

In the first two missions set in Mar Sara, players have access to the Joey Ray’s Bar and can interact with Jim Raynor who is drinking. There is a piece of newspaper attached to the bulletin board on the wall and you can interact with it. It says the Zerg has returned to invade the fringe-worlds and Emperor Arcturus has recalled the Terran Dominion forces to return to the core-worlds, leaving the fringe-worlds to fend on their own.

Jim Raynor heard the call for help, and rescued 800 civilians, including an orphan girl, from a place known as Meteor Station – a Kelmorian Mining Post. The lore fan-spider-sense in me tingled wildly. This is quite interesting, because the only place the fans have ever heard of this place: Meteor Station, was in the short story by Grace Randolph titled Last Call. This short story is from the Starcraft: Frontline Volume 3 by Tokyopop. Are we going to meet some of these characters, locations and plots from the mangas in the Single Player?

Metzen I think in general with the novels we’ve been doing recently with Christie Golden and definitely a lot of the manga short stories we’re definitely trying to season the game and the ancillary fiction with as much ideas, either in cross-pollinated ideas as possible. We always like taking little hooks from one thing or another and translating into those different medium stories. It just feels a little more contiguous ultimately. It’s kind of interesting that these names and these ideas are being leveraged across the board.

So I think with the Tal’drim specifically there is definitely a tie there to the events happening in the Dark Templar trilogy but it’ll probably play itself out on a much longer basis.

I am definitely loving all these lore references found throughout my single player hands-on experience, While in the Hyperion, I visited the Cantina Room and met Mr. Graven Hill, the local black market pirate. Jim Raynor can hire different Kel-Morian mercenaries from him to help you in some of the tough missions for a price. This really excites me for a very good reason. I am a subscriber of the Starcraft comic book by Wildstorm comics.

As it stands, in the comic book, the War Pigs are working for the Terran Dominion, and they have been ordered to hunt down and kill Jim Raynor. However, I am guessing that at some point if the Terran Dominion abandons the War Pigs to the Zerg like they did with General Duke, and Sarah Kerrigan, and like they are doing in the present with the fringe-worlds, the War Pigs might take a turn and join the rebels as mercenaries. Are we going to eventually hire the War Pigs in Starcraft II at the Cantina?

Metzen: Interesting, will we meet the War Pigs in StarCraft 2? I think, as it stands, they don’t make an appearance in Wings of Liberty specifically. But we’ll keep it in mind, because we’ve been enjoying where the comic series has been going and there’s potentially a lot of rich characterization there so we’ll see down the road.

During my tour through Blizzard’s Starcraft II offices I saw on the wall a poster of various character animation portraits that will be used in the game’s interface. I saw Starcraft: Ghost’s Nova’s portrait. I also saw Gabriel Tosh in the mission titled Mining Your Own Business set in the planet Redstone III. I am psyched to see this character too because he is going to appear in the Pocket Books novel titled STARCRAFT: GHOST SPECTRES by Keith DeCandido on sale March 30, 2010 and he also appears in the Tokyopop manga titled STARCRAFT: GHOST ACADEMY on sale January 1, 2010.

I also saw Reporter Kate Lockwell in the single player, a character that also appears in the STARCRAFT: FRONTLINE manga. Are we going to see Nova and Colin Phash (the telepath boy)? This boy was introduced in the short story War-Torn in the Starcraft: Frontline Volume 2 and 3, and has been confirmed to appear in Starcraft: Ghost Academy too. Since we are seeing Gabriel Tosh from that manga in the game, are we going to see Colin Phash in the single player?

Metzen: I’m not as sure about Phash making an appearance in the game specifically but I think we’ve said before Nova’s certainly a character that is near and dear to us and we’ve got plans for her [in] the Ghost Academy manga and the upcoming novels Spectres as well. So, yea, we’ve worked a little cameo of Nova in but I’d had to give away exactly how she plays into the story. It’s pretty cool [and] it’ll feel worthy for those fans of the character that never actually got to play her in her own title.

During my single player hands on experience I read in a piece of newspaper the name Michael Liberty. That really intrigued me. This is the same reporter who debuted in the Pocket Books novel Starcraft: Liberty by Jeff Grubb. He has made a few cameos in Starcraft: Queen of Blades by Aaron Rosenberg and in the Tokyopop manga short story titled Newsworthy by Grace Randolph in the Starcraft: Frontline Volume 2. Are we going to see Michael Liberty reporting news from the rebels’ side through clandestine broadcasts on the TV screen at the Cantina Room?

Metzen: I think Liberty actually does not show up in this campaign. We had talked about it a lot earlier on but because he’s so extreme in his views where he’s so anti-government that we needed leverage, we kind of needed to create a new reporter that was a little more even in the kind of stories that she could report. But I still hold out hope that we’re going to get Liberty in because he’s potentially a really cool character to use.

There is an interesting concept played out through the short story Do No Harm by Josh Elder. A Terran Dominion scientist has been capturing Protoss and experimenting with their DNA to create a Human-Protoss hybrid prototype. There have been other previous prototypes, but this one in particular is pretty strong and uses Ghost technology to stealth. The Terran Dominion plans to create an army of these hybrids to protect the core-worlds. Are we going to see a follow-up of this play out into the Single Player? This guy is pretty much the Rexxar of Starcraft.

Metzen: I think that one, for now, is kind more of a one-off. I don’t think there’s any plans to follow up on that theme anytime soon in terms of the game itself, in terms of the game story. But I dig that story a lot that I think it’s more of just a really cool story by itself.

I remember you said in Blizzcon 2007, there were plans to add a planet encyclopedia into the Star Map where players could have the opportunity to learn some lore about each planet. Is that still the plan? I didn’t get to see much of that in the single player build I just played.

Based on the build that you guys have been playing today we’ve pulled back a degree of that. Most of that was a design decision, a UI decision, [where] we wanted the interface to be as clean as possible. The current iteration is very much the one we’re running with barring some minor changes that could happen, but I think we’ve pulled a little bit more away from the grinding Encyclopedia Galactica idea that you were talking about. It just didn’t take the shape that we were anticipating.

In this instance I think “less is more”. We’ve still got a lot of lore based on a lot of the planets and their histories and their unique environments and things like that so a lot of that does inform the story and then per some of the blue screens or whatever there’s some data there that gives you a sense of the context of each planet but it probably won’t take as grand a shape as some of the things we were chasing earlier on.

In Starcraft: The Dark Templar trilogy, book three: Twilight we learn that Zeratul has been moving from place to place these past four years using the Xel’Naga gateways that are revealed to be spread all across the galaxy. Jake Ramsey and Zamara were stranded in a snowy planet for example, before entering the coordinates to reach a tropical planet where they find Zeratul’s ship. Is it me, or are there breadcrumbs in the novel hinting that we will explore other star systems in the single player by using these Xel’Naga gateways?

Metzen: I think at some point it’s reasonable that we’ll use those Xel’Naga gates and explore the unexplored. It’s hard to answer in terms of giving anything away for StarCraft II but we wouldn’t have built them [laughter] if we weren’t going to use them.

That’s interesting. You know, I don’t know off the top of my head. I don’t think I’m the guy to answer that one. [coughs, I’m not authorized to …]

The Snipers?

Metzen: Right.

[we all laugh—this is a joke between Metzen and I referenced back to our previous video interview during the New York Comic Con 2009 (February) when I asked him about Gilneas. They have big plans for Gilneas, but he couldn’t say anymore because there were snipers on the roof that you know … would shoot him. As he said this, he was looking at the roof—the snipers referring to Blizzard Public Relations Department.]

What has been your personal experience trying to cram up all this lore from the novels, the manga and the comic book into the single player as one solid integrated continuity of the Starcraft universe? We know that you had to split the Starcraft II single player game into three separate episodes: Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void to fit all the lore.

Metzen: Right. How do I respond. I think we haven’t gone out of our way to cram all the lore from comics and all that stuff into the game. Really we’ve been building the game’s story for so long that things like the Dark Templar trilogy or all the things you see in the manga really have just kind of organically spun out of what we were building anyway.

The trick to StarCraft II now being in these three installments is that there was a lot to play with in the first place. We had 10 years worth of expectations and stories we wanted to chase and arcs of these characters that we wanted to explore. So we came packing with a lot of ideas, and the idea of separating each of these chapters into their own boxed product essentially allows us to really round out each race’s stories without having to throw a bunch of stuff out.

We actually get to say everything [that] we set out to say in terms of story and we’re very proud of how Wings of Liberty has come off and I love the ending. I can’t talk about it, obviously, but I really love Raynor’s arc and I feel everything [that] we wanted to engineer into his great journey – in his way, his redemption for what he feels are past mistakes – I really feel that we got all that in there.

While it might start on a bit of a lower note, this is not necessarily a super human guy at the height of his game at the start of the game, he definitely finds his feet very quickly and becomes the man we need and expect him to be over the process of Wings of Liberty. It’s just been very cool to see all that come together and have all the other Ancillary lore really inform the story as its taking shape as well.

Special thanks to Chris Metzen, Shon Damron, CW, Karune and Bob Colayco for inviting me to this single player press event. And to Troglodyte from StarcraftWire.net for compiling the transcript.

Blizzard has announced three of the items available in the Blizzcon 2009 Goodie Bag: The Jim Raynor Noobz Vinyl Toy, the Blizzcon 2009 card (which includes a beta key code and Grunty Murloc in-game pet code); and a new Starcraft II-themed Blizzard Authenticator.

Blizzard revealed three new Noobz Vynil Toys that may be purchased at the Anaheim Convention Center by the Blizzard Store.

Blizzard Quote:

StarCraft II’s Jim Raynor, terran hero, outlaw, and leader of Raynor’s Raiders, will be making a rare exclusive appearance at this year’s BlizzCon. Standing 625 inches tall, dressed in his signature StarCraft II battle suit, and sporting an oversized Gauss rifle, Raynor is the debut piece in a new line of Blizzard Entertainment-inspired designer vinyl toys known as n00bz. The Raynor figure can be found exclusively inside this year

Karune has just dropped the ball on fans revealing several Starcraft II units have gotten a new art barely eight days away from Blizzcon 2009. The zealot has an amazing new look according to Karune. We may have many surprises to report to you once Blizzard gives us their Blizzcon 2009 Press Kit. Keep an eye on StarcraftWire.net for updates straight from the show floor.

On another note, Karune responded in our thread about the New Voice of Kerrigan. It seems Karune hinted that Karen Strassman is not the final voice of Kerrigan, but one of the actresses that have been auditioned. At least not final yet. Could this mean another actress could take the mantle? Or could this mean we may still have hope that Glynnis would be chosen for the role?

Additionally, map makers might drool after learning the Starcraft II team is considering third person shooter capability (trigger / camera options) and other classified stuff into the Galaxy Map Editor. Now that’s some very cool news there. UMS gaming will be an exciting and amazing experience.

Blizzard Quote:

On a side note, going along with the Galaxy Map Editor can do anything trend, I hear it may even be able to create a third person shooter style custom game Anyone miss those StarCraft paintball games? Our devs internally have already tried out some pretty clever side projects that have been quite successful.

This is your last call to get tickets for the Laguna Art Museum VIP Benefit Dinner. Follow the links below to get further details on what this event is and how you can acquire tickets. The goodies for the price of this ticket may be worthwhile to many fans who coundn’t buy a Blizzcon ticket.

Blizzard Quote:

There are still a few tickets available for this great event, but quantities are limited. To purchase your ticket, please go to the Laguna Art Museum

Our adorable and hard-working contact from Pocket Books, Jaime, has provided us their Blizzcon 2009 schedule—where you will meet Richard A. Knaak and Christie Golden; and have the opportunity to get some free stuff (while supplies last).

We have been given green-light from Blizzard and Pocket Books to ask Richard A. Knaak questions about World of Warcraft: Stormrage, so the community is very welcome to hurl some of the best questions about the Nightmare in the Emerald Dream, Malfurion, Cenarius and any other relevant topic surrounding the plot. You can either register and post below at the comments area, or to submit via email

All weekend long, stop by the Pocket Books booth in Hall B and receive a free copy of STARCRAFT: DARK TEMPLAR, BOOK 1: FIRSTBORN, while supplies last! While you

Blizzcon 2009 approaches rapidly in 10 days. About a month ago, I found at the Trademark Office website that Blizzard filed a new trademark titled Cataclysm. I submitted it to the press and it has spread globally.

Lot of speculations have birthed since then. I have written my share of articles in the past weeks supporting the theory that Cataclysm refers to a World of Warcraft expansion based in the South Seas and the Maelstrom. As well as the Emerald Dream. Both as a combo.

I remind you the Burning Crusade introduced a combo: Outland, Quel’Thalas and Azuremyst.

In previous articles I mentioned the hologram of the world of Azeroth in the Halls of Lightning by Loken’s room. Which can also be found at the Planetary hall in Ulduar. You can see a screenshot here.

In that image you can see Kalimdor is broken nearly in half. Most of The Barrens, Dustwallow Marsh, Mulgore and some of Stonetalon Mountains are represented as a crater that sunk underwater.

However, amidst that huge crater lies an island. What could be tall enough as to not be submerged underwater with everything else? Thunderbluff. Who do we know lives in Thunderbluff that has ties with the Old gods? The Grimtotem tribe. Their leader? Magatha Grimtotem.

As read in the Tauren History, Cenarius taught the Tauren druidism long ago. However, when Cenarius abandoned them, who we know as the Grimtotem tribe fell to the old whispers. Everyone knows nowadays that’s in reference to the Old gods.

There are other hints that support the theory behind Cataclysm, beyond the fact there was a Sundering 10,000 years in the past. Ralo’shan the Eternal Watcher in Silithus mentioned a new sundering that originates from the nightmare.

Malfurion revealed to Remulos in Moonglade the Nightmare’s source is the Old gods. Thus Ralo’shan gave us a hint that the second Sundering will originate from the Emerald Dream.

Then we have the quote from World of Warcraft: Arthas (novel by Christie Golden) where Arthas the Lich King had a vision of the near future, a precognition. In it he saw possibly Nazjatar rise from the depths of the Maelstrom to the surface of the sea. He saw Cenarius in the Emerald Dream’s Nightmare. And lastly, a cataclysm—read more.

The mountains themselves came to life, taking giant strides, crushing everything luckless enough to cross their paths. With each mammoth footfall, the world seemed to tremble and shake.

I see someone necro’ed a forum thread linking to my old article titled Blizzcon 2007: Faces of Blizzcon. The old link is now broken, but you can find the article here. It collected photos of some of the developers and CMs that would be at Blizzcon that year.

On 2009, most of them are coming back again, so it wouldn’t hurt to check out the faces. I remember walking through a bunch of people to reach the press room. Right in front of me I recognized Eyonix from the photo I posted. Stopped him to say hi briefly, and shook hands. Told him who I was and from which fansite. It was pretty nice.

On another note, Richard A. Knaak will be back and forth between the Tokyopop and Pocket Books booth. I met Christie Golden again on June 13 at Huntington, New York. There I interviewed her on video about Starcraft: The Dark Templar, Twilight. She told me she was going to be at Blizzcon. Currently, the pocket books publisher is attempting to secure a interview spot with both of them. If Blizzard approves it, I will get a schedule for the interview soon.

I will ask about World of Warcraft: Stormrage (we already got a sneak peek from Chris Metzen and Micky Neilson back on February). Also about World of Warcraft: Dragons of Outland. Probably about Warcraft Legends Vol. 4-5. I will probe if we can get any details of the untitled and unannounced Warcraft trilogy by Christie Golden.

Feel free to post below in the comments any questions you may have about all these books and mangas.

The persistent rumor going around the net that Ozzy Osbourne will appear at BlizzCon went into red code alert during this past weekend when DirecTV’s show listing for Blizzcon confirmed Ozzy Osbourne’s participation. However, as you can see here, all mentions of Ozzy vanished overnight.

Was it a slip up to increase the payperview sales and got curbed into removing the surprise? Or did DirecTV mirrored the rumors convinced it was true and Ozzy’s agent contacted them to deny his participation? Unless either party confirms it, this rumor seems to remain a rumor until BlizzCon.

Polish fansite member Phoenix buzzed me up about an unearthed Blizzcon Exclusive Starcraft II Poker Set that will be probably be sold this year at the Anaheim Convention Center. To my knowledge this wasn’t available at the Blizzard BlizzCon Store through August 5-7.

Play like the marines and bet it all! Exclusively available at BlizzCon, this terran-themed StarCraft II poker set includes everything you need to start your very own interstellar poker night, including four sets of Vegas-style poker chips, two decks of cards, and a handy case to keep everything together. Each playing card features a unique design by artists from Blizzard Entertainment

Eldorian took screenshots of all the Blizzcon 2009 exclusive store merchandise only available to fans who purchased a ticket. There is a plethora of new products never seen before. You can find them after the break.

Blizzplanet, Worldofwar.net, StarcraftWire.net and Diii.net are going to BlizzCon 2009. I am staff member on those fansites too, so I will be on top of the news for each fansite providing updates from the show floor through our live chat (Cover it Live).

This year I am bringing my own laptop—it’s arriving next week—and my HD Video camera. The reason of this post is to start collecting questions from our fans and visitors in advance. If you have questions for Tom Chilton, J. Allen Brack, and Ghostcrawler about patch 3.3 and future PvP: Battlegrounds and Arena—we want your questions.

If you wish us to ask questions to Jay Wilson about Diablo III or to Dustin Browder about Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty—go ahead. We will very likely meet them in private at the press rooms where only fansites and gaming sites have access. Re-read your questions and polish them the best you can before submitting them.

I already requested an interview spot with Richard A. Knaak and Christie Golden (pending approval) at Blizzcon 2009. I am gathering questions for Richard about World of Warcraft: Stormrage, and Warcraft: Dragons of Outland; and for Christie about Warcraft Legends Vol. 5 (her Draka story)—and I will probably ask Christie if she can talk yet about the untitled trilogy.

You can post your questions below in the comments page, or submit it by email, or via Facebook (under just fans section).

Grabbing all these questions in advance will allow us to focus our efforts on collecting live questions via Cover It Live chat for the developer panels and new game announcements at the show floor.

I will video-interview briefly someone I am so glad to hear will appear at BlizzCon and has openly told me, wants to meet us—however, I am unable to reveal who it is at this point. You will be excited, glad and thrilled. If Blizzard makes the announcement at the show, I will gather questions live for said person.

It’s begun. All fans have the opportunity to sign up to all BlizzCon contests to participate onstage on August 21. If you have been eagerly awaiting this, go subscribe asap while it lasts.

Blizzard Quote:

You can now sign up for our on-site BlizzCon contests by visiting the BlizzCon Contest page. The Dance, Soundalike, and Costume contests will be taking place live on-stage August 21 at BlizzCon. If you wish to take part in these contests it’s important you sign up now, before the event. We’ll be emailing registered participants before the event with more information on what to do once they reach the convention center. Visit the BlizzCon Contest page to read the rules and sign up now!

Blizzard sent out emails to fans who purchased a Blizzcon 2009 ticket a few months ago. Between August 5-7, only those who purchased a Blizzcon ticket will have the opportunity to pre-order the Blizzcon 2009 merchandise from the official Blizzard store. Read the email transcript Eldorian received earlier to check out the requirements and instructions:

Blizzard Quote:

Heading to BlizzCon 2009? Planning to purchase some souvenirs at the show? We wanted to send you one last reminder that for the first time ever, you’ll be able to shop for items from the BlizzCon 2009 store BEFORE the event during our limited-time-only, online BlizzCon 48-Hour Sale!

For a limited time beginning August 5 at 10:01 a.m. Pacific time, BlizzCon 2009 ticket buyers* will have the opportunity to purchase select BlizzCon 2009 store merchandise online. Items purchased through this sale will be shipped directly to your home, allowing you to avoid store lines at the show and giving you more time to take in the panels, tournaments, and other events at BlizzCon 2009.

HERE’S HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

Between 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on August 5 and 10:00 a.m. on August 7, log in to the online Blizzard Store (http://www.blizzard.com/store) using the Battle.net account you used to purchase your BlizzCon 2009 tickets.

Click the special “BlizzCon Sale” button in the lower-right corner of your screen.

Browse new BlizzCon 2009 items created especially for attendees, add them to your cart, and then proceed to check out.

Items will be shipped directly to your home.

Enjoy the show!

It’s that simple! Enjoy, and we look forward to seeing you at BlizzCon 2009!

*Please note: Only the ORIGINAL TICKET PURCHASER will have access to BlizzCon 2009 merchandise during this online sale, and the Battle.net account used to purchase the tickets is required. If you received BlizzCon 2009 tickets through another attendee, you will need to coordinate with the original ticket purchaser to participate in this sale.

Blizzard fans all over the world travel long distances to attend the biggest event sponsored by Blizzard Entertainment which in the past has exceeded 15,000 people. All of them go to either participate in contests, find out what new games Blizzard will pull out of its hat (Ohh, the big surprise), experience hands-on gameplay, witness the lore, pvp, gameplay, cinematics panels (to name a few). And so much more.

However, Blizzard has never asked fans what they would love to see at BlizzCon beyond what is already established and pre-scheduled (at least to my knowledge). What would be your dream feature in BlizzCon?

I personally can think of a few the fans would so lovely enjoy. Imagine a Darkmoon Faire circus-type of games where the developers are the target and you get rewarded.

Dunk that Developer: Who wouldn’t love to have Ghostcrawler strapped on a water tank, throwing balls at a bullseye lever to trigger the mechanism that slams him into the water tank. Over, and over, and yet over again. This is the serious-business Nerf-griever of all times. We love him and hate him. Such a mix of feelings. Yea, guys, get a life. One can dream though.

Foam-up that Developer: Hey, I have no quarrel with Chris Metzen. I have met him a few times. He’s awesome incarnate. Like a brother separated at birth—I think I am a couple years older than him. He visits Blizzplanet very often, has said it in two different occasions. However, some lore fans who need a life (really) have felt compelled to hate his guts over a few retcons (spacegoats crashlanding on Azeroth, chicken-and-the-egg Sargeras vs Eredar, you name it). Although I don’t share the sentiment, I bet these lore fans would like to get a shave cream bottle and spray him all over. (decided for shave cream because whipped cream sounds too … err—removes picture from his mind).

Paint that developer: Who wouldn’t want to throw paint-filled balloons of all colors at …. drumroll … Jay Wilson. The rainbow Diablo III controversy, remember? That angsty controversy died down so heavy and fast when we got to see other environments, and played the game at last year’s Blizzcon. Yet, those who “need a lif—- I mean, need to relax, and channel their anger in a fun way, would love to paint Jay Wilson to pay for all the grief.

Those are just examples. What would you love Blizzard to add to Blizzcon that could be entertaining, that would let you release some anger in a fun way pseudo-humiliating (you know, payback) a developer? I can think of a few that would love to think about one of these for Jeff Kaplan and some infamous forum CM thread-lockers.

Name your developer or CM, and the feature-circus-like game you would want them to participate in? Share your thoughts.

Note: I have nothing against any of these developers, but I have seen the trolls grief over the past years. I thought it would be fun to let the trolls and other fans have some fun with the developers at a Darkmoon Faire event inside BlizzCon 2009. I met Jeff Kaplan last year, at the Blizzard cafeteria. I ate on the same table as Jay Wilson, it was awesome to listen to him talk about the game with such a passion. Chris Metzen is like a bro, I love all the manga, novels and comic books—and of course all the games’ lore. I haven’t met Ghostcrawler yet, but come on guys, he’s got a hard job to do and not everyone will be happy with class changes, but they have to happen. Cut some slack. He the man.

You know, this Darkmoon Faire thingie could be a pro-benefit of the Make-a-Wish Foundation or other non-profit organization. Not a bad idea after all to have fun, relax, release some built-up anger on the developers, and benefit a charity all at the same time.

World of Warcraft fans in the California area—and why not, international and national folks—will be delighted to hear of a special offer that might get you into Blizzcon if you missed out the ticket lottery.

From July 17 through 19, you will have the opportunity to enter a drawing to purchase tickets for the Laguna Art Museum

VideoGamer held an interview with World of Warcraft Game Director Tom Chilton as a follow up to their Leipzig coverage. In this interview Tom Chilton confirms their plan for a yearly WoW expansion stands correct. The South Seas, the Maelstrom and the Emerald Dream, (and can I say Gilneas hinted?) have pop into the radar through Chilton’s own lips. So … a yearly expansion (check) … the south seas (check). See you at BlizzCon fellas.

Blizzard Quote:

VideoGamer.com: The first expansion was set in Outland, the second in Northrend, which was a little closer to home. Is there anywhere else left on the original map that can accommodate an expansion or does it have to be somewhere foreign?

TC: No I don’t think it has to be anywhere completely foreign yet. There are parts of the map that we have left ambiguous and unexplored. There are parts of Eastern Kingdoms and Azeroth that haven’t been filled out yet. Out there in the South Seas there are islands, there’s out where the Maelstrom is.

There’s still quite a bit of land mass. We keep referring to the Emerald Dream, which is maybe not exactly in Azeroth, but is sort of tied to it in some way or another. But there are definitely places in Azeroth itself that are close to home that haven’t been filled out yet, so there’s more room for that sort of thing.

We recently unearthed a new trademark by Blizzard that might or not tie-in with the theme of a Maelstrom and South Seas expansion.

We interviewed Chris Metzen and Micky Neilson last February, where they said there were plans for Gilneas, and talked about the upcoming World of Warcraft: Stormrage book which hits bookstores on February 2010. It deals with the Nightmare and the Emerald Dream.

I wish all the participants had won a BlizzCon Ticket, but only three are available. Below are the three winners of this giveaway. Congratulations and hope to meet you at BlizzCon.

Those who did not win may still participate in other fansites giveaways which are still active and taking submissions. These are provided by Blizzard Entertainment to all its approved and active fansites.

The Blizzcon Tickets are sold out. However, you still have a chance at winning a Free ticket to attend Blizzcon via Fansites Giveways courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard is very supportive to all the fansites under their flag. So take this very exciting opportunity. Beneath are all the fansites whose giveaway is still active. Participate in all of them to increase your chances at winning one. However, if you got two be honest and let them know. Good luck and see you at BlizzCon.

The second and last batch of BlizzCon tickets are now sold out. Zippo. No more on sale. Is that your last chance to get a ticket? Not at all. The family of fansites of the IncGamers Network still has some giveaways of FREE BLIZZCON TICKETS courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment. Visit the following fansites to read the rules and how to participate. Participate on each of them to increase your chances.

Tokyopop is coming to BlizzCon and you will have some nice loot to take home. Warcraft Legends Vol. 5 will be available to you a month earlier at the event. The artist behind Warcraft Legends Vo. 3 and StarCraft Ghost: Academy—- Fernando Heinz Furukawa will draw sketches on the spot for fans. A projection preview of pages from StarCraft Ghost: Academy (due January 2010) and a gallery of Tokyopop Warcraft and Starcraft mangas. I will be there taking video and photos. Stay tuned to our BlizzCon 2009 coverage.

Blizzard Quote:

Blizzards gaming convention Blizzcon always attracts a lot of attention and fan fervor. So it was no surprise when only 28 minutes after the first installment of tickets went on sale over the weekend, they were sold out.

With the new queuing system in place over ten thousand people tried to get tickets for the event before purchasing was concluded at around 10:30 am PST.

For those of you who were unable to buy tickets in that first round and would like to join the festivities at Blizzcon 09. There will be a second set of tickets going on sale this Saturday, May 30th at 10 am PST once again. Wake up early, make some coffee, and get online to get your hands on this last batch of tickets before the show is totally sold out.

For those of you who do have tickets, your in for a treat. TOKYOPOP is pulling out all the stops. We will have artist Fernando Heinz Furukawa who has worked on Warcraft: Legends Vol’s 3 “Crusader’s Blood” and 4 “Bloodsail Buccaneer”. He is also the artist for our new trilogy StarCraft: Ghost Academy.

Fernando will be in our booth drawing images for the new upcoming StarCraft: Ghost Academy (coming out January 2010), which we will project for everyone to see. That will be happening 2-3 hours each day.

In addition to those 2-3 hours he will be drawing Blizzcon exclusive sketch cards for people who come to our booth for 2 additional hours each day. So be sure to stay tuned for further details and come get your exclusive art work.

People participating in the Brady Games Fishing Quest will be able to get an advanced copy of Warcraft Legends Vol. 5 (coming out in September 2009).

We will also have an art Gallery of our Warcraft and StarCraft manga art on-display in our booth, a Sexy Blood Elf Cut out for you to take your picture with, and much more!

So be sure to pick up your tickets and come visit us at the convention August 21st and 22nd.

From my visit to Blizzcon 2008 at the Anaheim Convention Center, I gathered directions for our fans to the closest restaurants, grocery stores and carrentals around the area. The Marriott and Hilton Hotels are within 3 minutes walk from Blizzcon. They have restaurants and other stores within the Hotel facilities, but if you are on a tight budget, there are some popular restaurants within 10-20 minutes walking distance.

Those who will be at the Marriott Hotel or the Hilton Hotel, or close to Blizzcon will appreciate this database. Simply click on the links below to view a map. The map shows you a direction from Blizzcon (A) to the destination (B). If you click on the green (B), it will zoom you in to an interactive photo-panoramic street view that will let you see a photo of the location.

Enter a tropical rainforest for a dazzling dining experience the entire family will treasure.

* Generous portions of fabulous food from around the world
* A lively jungle of entertainment
* Waterfalls, rain showers, live parrots, animated apes – and all the sounds of a real jungle!
* Fabulous fiber-optic starscape
* Unusual shopping

Blizzard has announced the official link where to purchase the Blizzcon tickets tomorrow Saturday, May 16. Wish everyone luck to get one of these. Last year, 15,000 tickets were sold out within 15 minutes. The queue system will allow fans to have better and fair chances to purchase tickets without having to reload mindlessly.

Blizzard is preparing to announce a new contest that starts on May 20. The winners of this contest will get free trip for two to BlizzCon 2009 and some phat lootz. The catch? You better be good at sewing costumes … or a blacksmith or leatherworker in real life.

Blizzard Quote:

Warm up your sewing machines and start selecting the best fabrics you can; the Blizzard Costume Contest is coming soon! The best costume-maker will receive a grand prize package filled with great loot from our partners Panini, SteelSeries, and Upper Deck as well as an a trip for two to BlizzCon 2009! Check out our contest information page for details.

The Blizzcon website now displays details of the panels to be held in the Anaheim Convention Center. Not all panels seem to be available at this time. Nethaera said some panels might be added as Blizzcon nears in reference to the lack of a World of Warcraft Lore Panel. Speculation-mode on: Sounds like we have a new Expansion in the horizon.

Blizzard Quote:

WORLD OF WARCRAFT

Class Discussion
Always a crowd favorite, the class-discussion panel gives insight into the intricate workings of class design and balance, from conception to continuing development. If you

The sale date for 2009 Blizzcon Tickets have been announced with plenty of heads up. They will be on sale on Saturday, May 16. Notice it is on a weekend—so that everyone has a chance to be online at the moment they go on sale. Last year, 15,000 tickets were sold within 15 minutes causing a lot of angry fans to go Murloc-aggro on Blizzard. Now you have plenty of time to prepare.

Blizzard Quote:

Tickets to this year’s BlizzCon gaming convention, being held on August 21 and 22 in Anaheim, California, will go on sale worldwide on Saturday, May 16 for $125 each, with a second block of tickets going on sale Saturday, May 30. For those unable to attend, DIRECTV will once again be televising BlizzCon in high definition as a Pay Per View event, featuring coverage from the show floor, exclusive interviews, demos, and more. In addition, for the first time, players around the world will be able to watch the DIRECTV BlizzCon event as a Pay Per View Internet stream. Check out the press release ( http://www.blizzard.com/us/press/090505.html ) for further details, and head over to http://www.blizzcon.com on May 16 or May 30 to buy your tickets.